House of 1000 Corpses

[Mr_Vindictive]

Having been a huge Rob Zombie fan for quite sometime, I was psyched as hell to rent House of 1000 Corpses.

But in the end I was let down.  

I felt that the first half of this film was fantastic.  It was creepy, it was grity, it was very 70s.  But, the second half felt extremely weak.  Sure it was still rapid fire pace, but it just felt too......out of place.  

~SPOILERS~

The end where the girl finally meets Dr. Satan was completely flat for me.  It was beyond the willful suspense of disbelief.  Something about it just didn't sit right with me.  The same can be said for his storm trooper.  I'm assuming that the storm trooper was one of his experiments.  

And what the hell did the family have to do with Dr. Satan?  Were they kin to him?  What did they gain by giving people to Dr. Satan?  

~End Spoilers~

Zombie's direction in this film is near flawless, especially the scene with the cop that everyone here has mentioned.  Sid Haig was fantastic as Captain Spaulding, by far the best character in the entire film.  Also, it was great to see Chris Hardwick finally doing some acting.

I really did want to like this movie.  I was looking forward to a creepy 70s era style exploitation flick in the same vein as Texas Chainsaw Massacre.  That's what I got for the first half of the film.  The second half turned into a disjointed mush.  

I'd probably buy it but a few years from now when it's in the five dollar bin.  A good rental if only to see Captain Spaulding.

[Jack Deth]

Dis you rent the rated or unrated version?  I really enjoyed this, as it's both similar and different than Chainsaw Massacre.  Whether or not you liked this film you have to give credit to Rob for having the balls to do something that's not typical mainstream tripe.

[wuggles451]

skaboi just summed up my exact opinion, House started strong but the ended was so far removed from reality it weakend the movie

[Mofo Rising]

I'm going to agree with Skaboi as well.

The first half of the movie was creepy, trash-laden fun.  This film is garbage, and it revels in the fact.

The second half went beyond belief though.  Now, this may be because I was drinking when I was watching it, but what the hell was going on?  The first half, while crazy, at least had a bit of believability to it.  The last half went beyond reality into a pure "horror" mode.  Well, I only find horror in things that are mired in reality.  When you go as far beyond it as in this film, well then it's just like a funhouse ride.  It may be entertaining, but in the end it's nothing at all.

I enjoyed this movie quite a bit, but the end pretty much lost me.  In that I was watching the movie, but was pretty much asleep as far as the plot went.

And the "ring the bell" intro on the DVD is one of the funniest things I've seen in quite a while.

I also enjoyed the casting.  Tom Towles, the delightful Otis from HENRY: PORTRAIT OF A SERIAL KILLER as a cop.  Michael J. Pollard, who is creepily boyish in everything.  And of course, the old Private Ryan from SAVING PRIVATE RYAN shows up in this movie as well.



Post Edited (08-19-03 05:20)

[Scott]

Just rent it Uncle Fester. I guess we all have to see it since Rob Zombie is in it and it has a neat title. Actually if you might be better off watching what ever is second on your "to view" list.